Jarvis More Key Ideas
Peter Jarvis Wiki and Assignment 1 Thoughts ' Peter Jarvis is a “Big Thinker” in the world of adult education. He is an internationally recognised expert in the areas of lifelong learning, adult education and continuing education. He has numerous publications and studies in this field; including “Routledge International Handbook of Lifelong Learning; Democracy, Lifelong Learning and the Learning Society” and he also won the 2008 Cyril O. Houle Award for Outstanding Literature in Adult Education for his publication of “Globalisation, Lifelong Learning and the Learning Society.” He is the professor of Continuing Education at the University of Surrey and is also the founding editor of the “International Journal of Lifelong Education” He holds an honorary professorship at multiple universities including City University (UK), Pecs University (Hungary) and Tianjin Radio and Television University (China). He was a previous Adjunct professor in the Department of Adult Education at the University of Georgia (USA). He is also the Special Professor at the University Of Nottingham. '''Key Ideas ' The individual/ Person grows and develops and by doing so learns to become a social human being. There is an emphasis on the social context in which an individual lives. There is an element of nurture as well as individuals being hard-wired towards certain emotions and learning situations. This again involves the wider social context a person lives in. Our first three years of life involve a significant amount of learning. This is depicted by Maslows (1968) hierarchy of need, which is still uncontested. This model does involve mixtures of psychological and self-orientated needs; which could be described as the nature of a person. He suggests that these ideas of the individual and the “mind-body relationship” and dualism (“I think therefore I am”) can be attempted to be validated by Behaviourist Theories. However, behaviourism can explain the results of learning processes and does not explain the actual learning process. Jarvis suggests an element of learning being a biological process. There is an element of preconscious learning, from before birth as described by Tremlin 2006. From birth individuals learn how to function within their society. The ability to learn develops with the individual and the changing of the contextual society within which they are exposed. Describes learning as “lifelong” and the individual is a vessel for learning He discusses ten types of learning and these can be understood by following his model of learning transformation process 1. '''Non Learning – this is when you take a situation for granted. This refers to simply the time arrow in his model as the individual simply continues through time without learning. There is no disjuncture or reaction to disjuncture. 2. Non Consideration – when disjuncture happens and a person realises that something new could be learned, however, we do not act upon it. In the model this corresponds to box (2). There is still an element of reflection (3) but the person decides not to act upon it then to boxes (6)+(7) 3. Rejection – this is quite similar to non-consideration. This shows a deliberate and conscious rejection of a new learning opportunity. The individual will leave the learning pathway at box (2) or (3)/ (4). This rejection is due to a deep emotional reaction (Illeris 2007) 4. Ambivalence – this is when disjuncture happens and triggers a learning response with an element of problem solving involved. The learner finds no answer to the situation and this can also lead to an emotional conflict. This produces a learning response which involves emotive reflection. Boxes 1-2-(3/4)-6-7 5. 'Preconscious Knowledge Learning (Incidental Learning) –' this involves sensory learning and Jarvis suggests this can begin in the mother womb. 6. 'Memorization – '''This encompasses the more traditional notion of learning. It involves the recollection of facts. This type of learning involves cognitive skills with no reflection and is generally seen by school teaching and lectures. Boxes 1-3-6-7 7. '''Emotional Learning – '''This describes some emotions as being inherent and hard-wired as described by Turner 2005. This type of learning is very important as evolving during life, as it enables an individual to learn how to act on learning opportunities. It enables individuals to develop emotions to help learn how to deal with disjuncture. Boxes 1-2-4/3-6-7 8. '''Action Learning –' this includes learning by trial and error and imitation learning. It involves boxes 1-2-5/4/3-6-7. It is more focused on learning skills and involves trial and error over a period of time. 9. Discovery Learning – This includes problem solving; it also involves trial and error as a type of learning mechanism. This involves the testing of theories by an individual. 10. Contemplation Learning – This is reflective learning. It involves thinking and philosophising over problems. It involves deep analysis of disjuncture and learning from the situations. Jarvis also discusses the difference between Experiential and Existential Learning Theories Experiential Learning – this involves learning from the conscious world around us. The individual needs to have special awareness and must know they are having learning experiences from certain events and opportunities. Ross and Frieburg discuss the experiences and the person as a whole. Existential Learning – this involves a deep biological learning theory. It suggests that by living an individual is learning. Jarvis suggests that “learning is the driving force of an individual.” This allows for personal growth, developments and social maturity. In philosophical terms learning is thought of a person “being” and “becoming.” This type of learning theory underpins Jarvis’ model of learning transformation. Jarvis also discusses the link between learning styles and teaching. There has been a marked shift in adult education with a focus on the learner, more than the teacher. The teacher is the adjunct to learning in the process of adult education. Hence they are no longer regarded as an essential component of the learning process. Present thinking suggests good teachers should provide learning situations that allow individual to maximise their human potential. Jarvis suggests that a good teacher is one that “is aware of many methods of teaching and can utilize them in such a way as to enable the learners to gain mastery over the knowledge, skill, attitude or emotion that is at the heart of the teaching and learning transaction.” Jarvis describes different teaching styles and the conditions that they will help adult learning occur. He suggests that if we consider adult learning as a basic human need then the actual teaching is not essential to learning but it may help it to be achieved. In situations where the learner is motivated by disjuncture teachers and the learner should structure the process of learning together so that it may be relevant to the experience or problem that initiated the feeling of needing to learn. Jarvis describes four different types of teaching: (1) Didactic (2) Socratic (3) Facilitative (4) Experiential (1) 'Didactic Teaching – '''this refers to the traditional form of teaching, Hirst and Peters describe this as the process of making a selection of knowledge, skills, etc... From a the cultural milieu – those aspects which “it is intended that pupils should learn.” This involves a very basic form of conditioning where good grades and examination results gain teachers approval and ensure that the pupil will learn and reproduce the required knowledge. This type of teaching can have flaws as the material to be learned or taught is usually chosen by external agencies rather than the students themselves, this can lead to problems with the actual relevance of the material being taught. This in turn reduces the learning experience in certain situations. Hence in adult education Jarvis suggests that type of teaching style is less significant but can improved by encouraging the learners to consider the validity of the facts being taught and provoking thought and analysis during the didactic method. Hence a good didactic adult educator should provoke questions about the facts and should encourage learners to ask questions rather than simply providing the facts and answers. This introduction of questioning leads onto the next type of teaching. ' ' '(2) '''Socratic Teaching – this involves questions in the teaching process. This requires an experienced teacher who guides the learner with a carefully selected series of questions that enable the learner to think and search for the desired learning outcome.